Farmers’ Bulletins (covering a wide variety of subjects).

States Relations Service Circulars.

The Year Book.

Annual Reports of the Secretary of Agriculture.

Program of Work of the U.S.  Department of Agriculture (1917 or later years).

Report on Agricultural Experiment Stations and Cooperative
Agricultural Extension Work (1915 or later years).

A very useful publication is the “Guide to United States Government Publications,” published by the U.S.  Bureau of Education as Bulletin, 1918, No. 2.  It not only describes the publications of each department of government, but also the organization and work of each department and its subdivisions.  (Government Printing Office, 20 cents.)

More recent and equally useful is “The Federal Executive Departments as Sources of Information for Libraries,” also published by the Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1919, No. 74 (Government Printing Office, 25 cents).  The work of each Department and its subdivisions is described in some detail.

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B:  Lesson 30, Employment agencies.

Series C:  Lesson 12, Patents and inventions. 
           Lesson 13, Market reports on fruits and vegetables.

CHAPTER XIII

THRIFT

“Thrift is good management of the business of living.”

NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF THRIFT

This definition is taken from “Ten Lessons in Thrift,” issued by the Treasury Department of the United States Government (February, 1919).  The United States Government sent out these lessons because “America to-day stands in the position in which all her economic problems must be solved through thrift ...  Unless our people gain a deep, sincere appreciation of the absolute necessity for thrift, we cannot hope to hold the proud position we occupy as the flag bearer of nations ...” [Footnote:  S.W.  Strauss, President American Society for Thrift, in “The Patriotism of War Savings” (National Education Association pamphlet, thrift, 1918)]

LESSONS OF THE WAR

The great war taught us some lessons about the importance of thrift to the nation.  The enormous expenses of the war were paid and the armies and the civilian populations of the countries at war were fed very largely by the combined small savings of our people.  Nearly 20 million people contributed to the fourth liberty loan, by which almost seven billion dollars were raised, an average of about $350 for each contributor.  Almost every one bought war savings stamps, by which about a billion dollars were raised in 1918.  Practically all this money came from savings.  Enormous sums were also given to the Red Cross and other causes.  To do this people saved and sacrificed “until it hurt.”  The provisioning of our armies and of the needy peoples of Europe was made possible by the saving, in American homes, of slices of bread, of teaspoonfuls of sugar, of small portions of meat and fats.